I don't think monopolies or near-monopolies in any branch are particularly good, it's a killer for variety and nurturing of creativity.
But as long as that isn't the case, I've no problem with it. Some company has to be the biggest, it's good when companies rotate in that aspect. Keeps things fresh and entertaining 
One of the things I love the most with comebacks is the abundance of content that you're flooded with, performances, special show appearances, behind-the-scenes videos, interviews and more - up to the point that it's hard to keep track of it all.
This Red Velvet comeback isn't anything different, so I made a compilation 
in case people were curious and wanted to browse and check up on stuff they've missed.
Let's start with the Live Countdown to the comeback:
Killing Voice and Lee Mujin Service: a blissful dive into a cloud of songs
Followed up by their awe inspiring, truly divine Killing Voice attendance (finally!) as a full group, a full 33 minute experience:
Twenty songs, a mix of title tracks and b-sides makes this not only interesting for Reveluv but also for other K-pop fans. This is a great introduction in the best possible way to Red Velvet's discography: the harmony, the adlibs, the energy and excitement. It's banger after banger, the RV girls made even songs like Zimzalabim sound infectious repeatables.
I could've easily listened to several hours of this. But for those who wanted more, there's an extra treat in Wendy's visit to Lee Mujin's Service show. Her interpretation of Chill Kill and her astonishing cover of Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing already make it a must-watch:
I like some reaction videos because the reactors can add additional viewpoints and depths due to their expertise. For those interested, check the one in the quote below
Those weren't the only special show appearances, there's also a hilarious show where Joy and Billlie's Tsuki meet 
Music shows: performances, interviews and encore
And of course, let's not forget the music show attendances and performances they've done so far. I love the variety in styling and outfits. While Wendy has me completely floored once again with her glow and glamour in the performances, I noticed that the other girls really shine as well and have their moments where they rule the screen.
Production diaries
What I also appreciate are the many behind-the-scenes production diaries that have been released, especially the RV recording videos which are always great to watch
The other production diaries, check below
There were also some radio shows they attended but unfortunately, they weren't subbed (yet) so I haven't included them here.
I did find some other recent content, which you can check out below
ReveluvTaglist
Alright, that's it!
While I made this compilation post and rewatched some it again, I found myself realising that Red Velvet's vocal performances made me appreciate many of their songs to a higher level than I'd expected, better than the recorded versions. It's not just that they sound better: their harmonies, adlibs, their energy and sheer joy that they radiate - they really love performing and singing on stage, and they show it, they shine with it.
I'd have expected that choreo and MV add extra richness and flavor to the song. But no, with Red Velvet it's their vocal performances. I could easily watch hours long shows of them doing that.
I haven't been able to listen to her other songs on her new album yet, thx for the recommendation, I'll give this one a listen :)
I just don't like the kind of Music they released. And I do not like their style either. But I respect them.
They had a typical style of music that I'd like to call US-inspired 'uber swag' that you either like or leave it.
But Teddy in his peak days also gave 2NE1 other sorts of songs, with a different sound and vibe to it, like for example these that you might enjoy
Encountered this thread via another one.
... well, maybe at least you liked this setting for Feel My Rhythm 
She looks stunning! 
That hair color really suits her, and I wouldn't have expected this mixing of parts of those ensembles to work that well, but it did.
3rd gen underrated visual 
I hope so 
it was very unique, 4 gens in 1 group where it didn't look as 'mom with her daughters' and where none looked out of place.
I like these unique projects SM did (multi-group collab, SM station, classical versions of their groups' songs etc), and I loved the behind-the-scenes videos and fun interactions between the members.
But hopefully it'll also be with different members from all those groups if they do it again, and not only these 7.
Display Morei mean, just look at the countless threads made on purpose to provoke reveluvs and mys against each other
just askingaespa got all the hype and attention that rv never got.. more sales then rv has ever had in a comeback... i havent seen any legit interaction between them like we did for SM groups or even compared to NCT with past groups
RV started to make bigger numbers when Aespa skyrocketed in popularity, so i believe her growth is thanks to Aespa and the SM stan behaviour, wich seems is very strong between ggs and no so much between bgs and ggs. I mean, what else change recently besides that? So, thanks Aespa for make RV great again.
and notice how all of them are created by people who don't stan either group
Display Moreyeah that's my point
people are so obsess with trying to pit Aespa and red velvet against each other
but doesn't have the same energy with other groups
where are the thread about :
" Who had the quickest fall in korea itzy or Twice"
"who have more chance to get a hit again itzy or twice"
etc.....
Well, there was this thread:
But looking at this thread and OP's comments in it, yeah, OP was most likely troll-baiting, since this thread was posted in the weekend, it was probably a boring Sunday so it was trolling out of boredom 
As for the question, if it's about popularity in SK, then it was Red Velvet according to Gallup: both peaked at 6th rank in Gallup, but Red Velvet with 7.8% and Aespa with 6.5%.
I think it was 2NE1, PSY, Bigbang and basically the whole YG 2nd gen era reputation that helped YG's 3rd gen groups like BP, Winner and iKON with their debuts: for a couple of years, YG felt almost untouchable when it came to digital charting, from their groups to their solo artists.
However, with the fading glory of YGE and over-reliance on just 1 group, BP, I'm not so sure that's still the case for YG's 4th gen groups.
I don't think it's right to automatically blanket judge all critical and negative comments as all K-pop stans being biased or prejudiced.
Sometimes people simply like or dislike a song or MV, nothing more to it.
However, since K-pop fans are humans too, all the usual human psychological and emotional mechanics work in K-pop situations too:
If people like a certain style or previous groups of the debuting group's company, they will look more positively and favorably towards the debut of that new group (or negatively, when they dislike the company or sibling groups of the debuting group). What I'd call 'the Apple effect'.
And then there's expectation management and 1st impression vs follow-up impressions: sometimes a song sounds disappointing or just ok at the first listen - only to really start to shine when seen/heard at performances or after a few listens.
According to Gallup, TWICE were the most popular in SK in 2019 (and Red Velvet 2nd ).
After that, in 2020, Blackpink took the 1st spot for girl groups.
Usually YG and JYP girl groups (with the exception of NMIXX) do great right out of the box, from their debut onwards. So I'm kinda curious if this'll be the case for Babymonster too.
I don't know. Maybe INVU set the bar too high for me. It was sorta alright, but it missed the oomph factor for me.
Hmm. This feels more like assassination posting: some netizens saw an opening or opportunity to bring an idol (that they dislike, or from a group they dislike or that competes with their bias?) down, and they took it by fake news/selective taken-out-of-context 'evidence'.
Then other netizens and K-pop stans ran it and jumped on the bandwagon, for fun or drama or because they like a good, popcorn-worthy witch hunt.
People are often so extra 
As soon as some people don't dislike a song, they're said to be 'hating', as soon as 1-2 of a fandom are being critical or negative, it's suddenly 'the whole [fandom] is hating on this/that', as soon as some negative tweets on twitter pass by, it's suddenly representative for entire fandoms or the whole K-pop scene.
Huh, ok. It's his choice and he's entitled to it, it wouldn't be my choice. If he was in his '20s or '30s I would've found it more agreeable, but he's already in his '50s, it just makes me think 'do you really still want or need to do stuff like this?'
But I give him that, he is courageous, those were daring choices.
Huh, weird Not that they're bad, but of the Big 4, I would've rated HYBE's visuals last of the 4. I guess it shows how personal bias and preferences leads to different likings when it comes to beauty and looks.
Always makes me wonder how much whether you like a group or person (or dislike for that matter) influences how you view their looks more positively (or negatively), also not just in K-pop.
Unexpected, but nice! 
what a beautiful encore. these girls never fail to amaze me.
pure talent.
i was shocked to find out it's their first encore since queendom. i totally forgot fmr promo was limited bc the girls had covid.
True! I'm happy for them when they get a music show win, but personally I like it because then they'll do an encore.
Whether it's them appearing on Killing Voice or their encores or otherwise, I live for their vocal performances, they're always so fun and enjoyable to watch. And their adlibs and harmonizations are just heavenly 
Display MoreThe Baddest Female was a hit, it just wasn't a megahit.
Hello Bitches did pretty well I think, considering it was released 2 weeks later after being free on SoundCloud and she didn't get to promote it
Lifted was the first time a Korean female soloist charted on Billboard
CL was definitely successful with a pretty promising career ahead of her.
It's just very disingenuous to say it's her songwriting that caused her to fail when there were other factors with far greater impact working against her in both Korea and the US for 4 years straight. No new artist can survive being shelved like that, even if their debut song was a national hit.
Money probably. Girl groups chart higher, their songs have better longevity and gp interest has better longevity. Even in 2nd gen when boy groups charted and had hits, it was always girl group songs highest on end of year charts. If you live of royalties and luck, why double curse yourself by produce BG songs?
Twice is probably the most accredited girl group of 3rd Gen but JYP has never let them touch a title track.
Also can be shown in how girl groups release more singles and EPS compared to boy groups that release more studio albums
I don't think it has anything to do with trying to make the next GD/Teddy, it's just YG's roots as a hip-hop label turned idol agency pared with the music industry's general
misogynisticlean giving more opportunities to male songwriters and composers than female. However, while that push on female artists may not be there, there's not much for me to say creative suppression exists in its place like with other companies. Not right now at least.
YG is trashy and misogynistic in many, many ways but they aren't bad in that regard. And arguably in that regard alone
Hmm, what should be considered a hit or not... let's just say that CL's early solo projects underperformed considering the top tier popularity status she was enjoying in those days and compared with the solo projects of her male colleagues at YGE.
True, there are a lot of factors that play a role into someone's success. But based on the results while she was under YG and outside of YG and comparing it with her colleagues, I myself think that her fans were overrating her songwriting/producing/lyricist talents and that in those areas she wasn't on the same level as a number of her YG male colleagues, who had more tangible results with their songwriting activities.
As for YG, the guy who groomed his current wife since she was 13 years (and he 23 years) old and he became obsessed with her to the point of him sabotaging her career, who repeatedly called his own group 2NE1's members ugly, and confessed he was super jealous of SNSD and that he wanted a really pretty girl group for his next girl group... well, somehow I don't think he was the ultrarational type who kept his misogynistic tendencies away from how he treated his female artists vs his male artists.
Or if we want to phrase it more gently, that he had different goals and strengths he sought for his girl groups vs the goals and strengths he was looking for in his boy groups.
The money thing puzzles me: are boy groups not more profitable as a rule? If those talented producers make their own boy groups, doesn't it stand to reason that they'll make more profit from them than from girl groups?
